1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a call pickup system and, more particularly, to a network call pickup system for enabling call pickup in a multi-server communication network which allows call pickup of any call by any user connected to any server in the network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that modern telephone systems are able to provide a wide variety of convenience features or supplementary services to enhance call convenience and functionality. In particular, call pickup is a supplementary service that may be used, for example, by one user to answer or pickup telephone calls ringing at another station. The call may be ringing, held, camped on, or parked at a different extension. Call pickup is accomplished, generally, by the dialing an access code or depressing a pickup/line key followed by the number of the station to be picked up (e.g., ringing station).
In known private/public telecommunications network/exchange (PTN/PTNX) based networks and client-server based distributed telecommunications networks, telecommunications devices or stations, such as digital telephones, connected to PTN/SERVERS are interconnected by high speed and/or high bandwidth networks. Unfortunately, in such known PTNIPTNX based networks, call pickup is implemented only locally within a single PTN/SERVER, and thus calls may not be picked up by stations that are within the network but connected to another server in the network.
Therefore, what is needed is a system for enabling call pickup from anywhere within a multi-server network regardless of which server the call pickup initiating is connected.
Briefly, the present invention relates to a system and apparatus for enabling supplementary service functions, such as call pickup, to be implemented in a communications network having more than one server. The multi-server call pickup system is adapted to enable call pick up from anywhere within the network, including calls to users located on a different server within the multi-server network. The call pickup system includes a pickup request unit that is used for initiating the call pickup feature. A remote connect unit and a local connect unit determine the location of the call participants within the network. A call establishing unit having a negotiation process for connection establishment provides a connection between the calling user and the call pickup user. A notification unit notifies the users of the completed connection. A link release unit release any unused linkq in the connection. Optionally, a restriction checking unit may be provided to ensure that the call pickup user is appropriate for picking up the call. An exception handler for enabling the appropriate handling of service errors may also be provided.